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This philosophical article examines how public relations researchers have engaged with Kuhn's concept of a paradigm and have used it to set a research agenda for the field. I argue that Kuhn believed the social sciences to be inherently multi-paradigmatic, making the quest for a single, overarching paradigm for public relations research misguided. Instead, I lay out a four-paradigm schematic for the field, examining issues of semantic and cultural incommensurability and consequences for language use and research method and values. The article questions the definition of a mature discipline as often found in public relations literature and proposes that we might be more mature than we think if we are willing to accept a diversity of perspectives and their concomitant research values. Keywords paradigm, public relations research, semantic incommensurability theory, Thomas KuhnIt's not safe to assume you know what philosophy is, even if you have studied a good deal of it already. The reason is that there is nothing like consensus among philosophers about exactly what their subject is. (Rosenberg, n.d.: 1) This article, more philosophical argument than social scientific research in content and structure, examines the often uneasy relationship between public relations scholarship and Kuhn's (1996) notion of paradigm. Since the early 1980s, many public relations scholars have been on a quest to distinguish a singular, overarching paradigm for the field. Such a quest, I argue, is based on a faulty understanding of Kuhn and does little to advance our body of knowledge. Of more benefit to practice and theory would be to embrace the inherently multi-paradigmatic nature of public relations, rather than searching for the one 'correct' approach. My point is not simply philosophical. What we believe to be the object of study (ontology) guides how we know it (epistemology), study it (methodology) and ultimately what we value about it (axiology). What we value in public relations scholarship is the issue at the heart of this article.